Actuating means for throwout crank arms of sliding doors



Dec. 19, 1950 s B. HAsl-:LTINE ARMS 0F SLIDING DOORS Filed March 18, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 1M W I @wf/h Dec. 19, 1950 s B. HAsELTlNE 2,534,443

ACTUATING 'MEANS FOR THRowoUT CRANK ARMS oF SLIDING DooRs Filed March 18, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 a9 3/ C J2 Patented Dec. 19, 19510 ACTUATING MEANS FOR 'THROWOUT CRANK ARMS OF SLIDING DOORS Stacy B. Haseltine, La Grange, Ill., assignor to W. H. Miner, Inc., Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Delaware Application March 18, 1948, Serial No. 15,633

3 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in means for swinging the rotary supporting crank arms of sliding doors outwardly and inwardly as the door is slid in reverse directions to move the door laterally out of' and into the door opening.

One object of the invention is to provide in a sliding door construction, wherein the door is supported by rotary crank arms, independently acting cam means for respectively swinging the arms outwardly and inwardly as the door is slid in reverse directions.

Another object of the invention is to provide in a sliding door construction for closing the door opening of a wall, comprising a sliding door member sup-ported by crank arms journaled at opposite ends on the door and on sii-ding carriers movable lengthwise of the wall, cam means for swinging the crank arms inwardly toward the door to a position parallel to the car wall as the door is being slid to closed position, and holding the crank arms in said parallel position during the nal sliding closing movement of the door.

Other objects of the invention wiil more clearly appear from the description and claims hereinafter following.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specication, Figure l is a broken elevational view of a portion of the side wall of a railway car, provided with a door opening, closed by a sliding door, illustrating my improvements in connection therewith. Figure 2 is an elevational View, on an enlarged scale, of the mechanism at the lower left hand corner portion of the door shown in Figure l. Figure 3 is a vertical sectional View, corresponding substantially to the line 3 3 of Figure 2. Figure 4 is a horizontal sectional view, on an enlarged scale, corresponding substantially to the line ll-ei of Figure l. Figure 5 is a front elevational view oi the cam plate shown in Figures 1 to 4 inclusive. Figure 6 is a horizontal sectional view, corresponding substantially to the line -E of Figure 5. Figure '7 is a vertical sectional view, corresponding substantially to the line 'i--i of Figure 5. Figure 8 is a broken top plan view of the inner end of the door supporting crank arm shown in Figure 2. Figure 9 is an end elevational view of Figure 8, with the latch member omitted, looking from right to left in said iigure. Figure 10 is a front elevational view of the latch member shown in Figure 8. Figure 11 is an end elevational View, looking from left to right in Figure 10. Figure 12 is a broken top plan View, on an enlarged scale, of the central portion of the carrier shown in Figure 2, with the bearing sleeve for the crank arm omitted. Figure 13 is a vertical sectional view, corresponding substantially to the line lS-IS of Figure 12, with the bearing sleeve for the crank arm in position. Figure 14 is a side elevational view, broken away, of the inner end portion of the crank arm and the associated latch member, showing the crank arm thrown outwardly to a position at right angles to that shown in Figure 4, and looking from left to right in said last named gure, said view showing the elevated position of the latch in full lines and the lowered or depressed position in dotted lines.

In said drawings, I0 indicates the side wall of a railway car, which is provided with a door opening i i, closed by a sliding door i2. The door i2 is slilable along top and bottom tracks i3 and i4. At the forward or left hand end, as seen in Figure l, the door is provided with the usual projecting cam lugs l5-I5, which are engageable with keepers Iii-I6 for camming the forward end of the door closed. At the rear end, the door is provided with the usual well known operating means, not shown, for swinging the rear end of the door into and out of the door opening and camming the same tightly shut and partly open. As is well known in this art, the usual mechanism at the rear end of the door for supporting the same, not shown, includes top and bottom crank members journaled on the door and swingingly connected to carriers slidable on the top and bottom tracks i3 and lll. The left hand or leading end of the door E2, as seen in Figure 1, is provided with the usual tcp crank member ii of well-known design, which is guided by the track i3 for movement lengthwise along the car wall, and journaled on the door.

ln carrying out my invention, I provide broadly a lower supporting crank member A at the leading or front end of the door, vertically aligned with the top crank member il, a carrier B slidable on the lower track I4, a xed cam plate C, an upstanding cam lug D on the crank member A, cooperating with the cam plate, and a pivoted latch member E for locking the crank member in extended right angular position.

The door supporting crank member A comprises an arm I8 of the general shape shown in Figures 1, 2, and 4, a cylindrical shaft portion I9 upstanding from the outer end of the arm, and a depending cylindrical bearing projection or trunnion 20 at the outer end of the arm. The end of the ar-m i8, which carries the bearing projection 29, is enlarged, as shown, to provide a head portion 2| which carries the cam lug D, the latter being in the form of an upstanding cylina drical pin, eccentric to the axis of rotation of the bearing projection 20 of the crank member. The shaft portion I9 of the crank member is rotatably journaled in a bearing bracket 22, secured to the door I2 at the lower left hand corner portion thereof. The depending bearing projection 2U is journaled in the carrier B, which is in the form of a block, having the usual rollers 23-23, which travel on the track |4.

The blocklike carrier B has raised sections |24|24 at opposite ends thereof, within which the rollers 23-23 are accommodated. The depression between these raised portions accommodates the arm I8 of the crank member A for swinging movement on its bearing projection 2U, which is journaled in a bearing sleeve 24, seated in a suitable pocket or opening '25 in the carrier. As shown, the sleeve 24 is provided with a laterally outstanding, annular flange 26 at its upper end, which is seated on top of the carrier, and is locked against rotation with respect to the carrier by a radial keylike rib 2'! below the ange 26 engaged in a key seat 28 formed in the wall of the opening 25. At the upper side thereof, adjacent the opening 25, the carrier B is provided with an upstanding arc shaped locking flange 29 concentric with the vertical axis of said opening, the flange 29 being at one side of the carrier, as shown most clearly in Figure 12, extending through an arc of approximately Q degrees, and cooperating with the latch member E, as hereinafter pointed out.

The cam plate C is in the form of a casting fixed to the wall Ill of the car below the door opening adjacent and inwardly of the left hand or front end of said opening. The cam plate has a laterally outwardly offset section 38 between its upper and lower ends, which presents a lengthwise extending, vertically disposed, flat guide surface 3|, parallel to the side wall of the car. At the rear end, that is, the right hand end of the section 3i), beyond the surface 3|, as seen in Figure 6, the same is formed with a cam surface 32, which is inclined rearwardly and inwardly' toward the wall of the car, said surface merging with the straight guide surface 3|. At the top, the cam plate C has an outstanding arm 33, provided with a depending cam lug 34, opposed to the section 3U, but offset to the right of the same, as seen most clearly in Figure 6. cam lug is spaced laterally outwardly from the plane of the surface 3| of the section 3B and presents a centrally disposed, lengthwise extending, relatively short, flat surface 35 on its inner side, which lies in a vertical plane. At the left and right hand ends of the surface 35, the lug 34 presents laterally inclined cam surfaces 36 and 31, which merge with the surface 35. As shown, the cam surface 36 is of greater vlength than the surface 3'! and is opposed to the surface 32 of the section Si! of the plate C. The surfaces 32 and 3| cooperate with the cam lug D of the crank member A to swing the crank member inwardly toward the car wall and hold the same parallel to said wall during final closing of the door, and the cam surfaces 36 and 35 cooperate with said lug to swing the crank member outwardly away from the car wall from the position parallel to the wall to extended position at right angles to the same.

The cam plate C is further provided, as shown most clearly in Figure 5, with a depending section having a horizontally extending cam track .38 protruding laterally outwardly therefrom, and

The y with which the latch member E is engageable to control movement of the same.

The latch member E` is pivotally supported on the arm I8 of the crank member A at a point inwardly of the end or head which carries the bearing projection 20, being in the form of an elongated bar supported at its rear end by a pivot bolt 3S, extending through the same and the crank arm I8. The member E swings in a vertical plane alongside the head 2| of the arm I8 and has an arc-shaped flange section 4D depending therefrom. This flange is located at the mid section of the member E` and presents a shoulder 4| at the forward end thereof. The underneath surface at the forward or outer end of the latch member E is transversely inclined, as indicated at 42, and when the arm |8 is in its position at right angles to the car wall, cooperates with the inclined end 43 of the cam track 38 to elevate the latch member to its unlocked position as the door is slid toward its closed position. The flange section 4t is adapted to ride on the arc-shaped locking ange 29 0f the carrier B as the crank arm E8 is swung to and fro to hold the latch member elevated, and passes beyond the outer end |42 of said flange when the arm E8 reaches the extended right angular position with respect to the car wall, so that it may drop into locking position when the outer end of the latch member rides off of the track 3S while the door is slid in opening direction.

The operation of my improved `mechanism is as follows: Assuming that the door I2 is closed, the attendant follows the `usual procedure in forcing the door out of the door opening and then manually slides the -same away from the door opening, that is, slides the same to the right from the position shown in Figure l. As the door is thus travelling to the right, the cam lug D of the crank arm |8 rides along the fiat guide surface 3| of the cam plate C and into the opening between the cam surfaces 32 and 36 of the cam plate. As the lug D passes into this opening and inwardly thereof, it contacts the surface 35 and is cammed thereby to swing the lever arm i8 from the dotted line position 5|) to the dotted line position 5i shown in Figure 6. The crank arm i8 is thus brought to extended position at right angles to the car wall. During this rotation of the arm, the latch member E, which is held in raised position by the flange 132i thereof riding on the flange 29 of the carrier, swings with the arm through an arc of degrees, thus sliding the flange 4S to a position beyond the end |42 of the flange 29 and swinging the projecting outer end of the latch member into overlying relation with respect to the cam track 33 to be supported thereby and held in elevated unlocked position until the door has been slid a sufficient extent to the right for the projecting end of the latch member to ride off of the cam track 38, whereupon the latch member drops t0 its locking position with the inner end of the flange 49 of the same engaged in front of the front end of the flange E9 of the carrier. The arm ES is thus effectively locked against rotation in door closing direction during further sliding movement of the door in opening direction. The door is thus held entirely free of the car wall while it is being slid open, thereby preventing the door from dragging on the car wall and marring of the door and wall.

In closing the door, the usual procedure is followed of manually sliding the door to partly closed position and then forcing the same tightly shut by operation of the usual well-known door fastener mechanism employed on doors of this character. As the door is travelling toward the closed position shown in Figure l, the extremity of the latch member E rides up on the cam track 38, thereby lifting the latch member and disengaging the flange 40 from in front of the stop flange 29 to unlock the arm I8 and free the same for rotation in door closing direction. After the latch member E has been thus unlocked and during the further travel of the door toward closed position, the cam lug D of the arm I8 comes into engagement with and rides up on the cam surface 32 of the cam plate C, thereby positively eiecting swinging movement of the arm I8 from the dotted line position 5I in Figure 6 to the dotted line position 50, forcing the front end of the door into the door opening. As the door travels further toward its final closed position, the lug D rides off of the cam surface 32 and onto the guide surface 3|, sliding along the latter surface until the door is completely closed. As will be evident, the crank arm I8 is thus positively held against outward swinging movement by engagement of the lug D with the guide surface 3I thus assuring proper engagement of the lugs I5-I5 at the leading end of the door within the keepers IS-IG. It should be further noted that the two cam surfaces 36 and 32 act independently during the respective operations of sliding the door open and closed, thereby assuring accurate and proper timing of the swinging movements of the crank arm I8.

I claim:

l. In a door construction for a container having a wall provided with a door opening, the combination with a door adapted to close said opening; of guide means on the container wall extending lengthwise of the same; a carrier slidable lengthwise on said guide means; a door supporting crank arm journaled at one end on the carrier and at the other end on the door; a cam lug on said arm at the end thereof which is journaled on the carrier, said lug being eccentric to the axis of rotation of said arm on the carrier; and a cam plate fixed to the wall of the car, said cam plate having a cam surface inclined away from said wall, said cam surface being in the path of movement of said cam lug and engageable thereby as the door is slid to closed position to swing the crank arm inwardly toward the car wall to a position substantially parallel to said wall, said cam plate having a straight guide surface parallel to the car wall with which said cam lug is engageable to hold said arm against out'- ward swinging movement during final closing of the door.

2. In a door construction for a container having a wall provided with a door opening, the combination with a door adapted to close said opening; of guide means on the container wall extending lengthwise of the same; a carrier slidable lengthwise on said guide means; a door supporting crank arm journaled at one end on the carrier and at the other end on the door; a cam lug on said arm at the end thereof which is journaled on the carrier, said lug being eccentric to the axis of rotation of said arm on said carrier; and a cam plate fixed to the wall of the car in the path of movement of said lug as the door is slid along said wall, said cam plate having laterally spaced cam surfaces, one of said surfaces facing outwardly and being inclined away from said wall in direction toward the front of the door opening, and the other of said cam surfaces facing inwardly and being inclined away from said wall in a direction toward the front end of the door, said inwardly facing cam surface being engageable by said lug as the door is slid in opening direction to cam said arm outwardly to a position at right angles to the car wall, and said outwardly facing cam surface being engageable by said lug as the door is slid in closing direction to cam said arm inwardly from said right angular position to a position parallel to said wall.

3. In a door construction for a container having a wall provided with a door opening, the combination with a door adapted to close said opening; of guide means on said container wall extending lengthwise of the same; a carrier slidable lengthwise on said guide means; a door supporting crank ann journaled at one end on the carrier and at the opposite end on the door; a cam lug on said arm at the carrier end thereof, said lug being eccentric to the axis of rotation of said arm on the carrier; and a cam plate having outwardly facing cam and guide surfaces thereon with which said lug is sucessively engageable while the door is slid in closing direction, said plate having a second cam surface thereon with which said lug is engageable while the door is slid in opening direction, said guide surface facing outwardly and being parallel to said Wall, and said first named cam surface facing outwardly and being inclined away from said wall in direction toward the front end of the door opening, and said second named cam surface facing inwardly and being inclined toward said wall in direction toward the rear end of said door opening.

STACY B. HASELTINE.

REFERENCES CITED Name Date Haseltine Apr. 21, 1942 Number 

